“Reaching the Summit” at Centennial Middle School

On Friday, November 9th, over 250 students and teachers from 50 schools around the state met for the Oregon Green Schools summit to "make connections" and to celebrate their school waste reduction achievements. "The students attending the summit work hard to demonstrate their commitment to recycling and waste reduction,” said Dave Larmouth, Summit Chair. "This event gives them an opportunity to share what they've accomplished, exchange ideas and go home with new ways to improve their Green School programs."

This year’s summit was held at Dallas High School, which is currently a “Premier” school. A variety of sessions were available, ranging from a tour of Dallas High School’s recycling operation to the Premier School Showcase, a very popular session where students from Premier level schools share their success stories with those interested in improving their programs.

The hands-on activities were popular as well, including Greeting Card Reuse, Fun with SCRAP, and Paper-making. Students also enjoyed game-show style sessions, including Watts Up with Waste and the Weakest Eco-Link. There were several sessions targeted to our older student-members, including sessions on volunteer and career opportunities.

The highlight of the day had to be the hilarious performance put on by “Brainwaves Improv Comedy,” a group from Portland that presented a humorous series of skits based on audience suggestions with a recycling theme. Door prizes provided by various sponsors were given out during the entertainment portion of the day.

Major sponsors of the Summit included the Oregon Refuse and Recycling Association, Metro, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, Tetra Pak, Inc., Marion County Solid Waste, the City of Gresham, the City of Beaverton, the City of Portland Bureau of Environmental Services, Bill Webber, DeWald Northwest Co., Recycling Advocates, and Resource Revivial. Many schools were directly sponsored by their local waste hauler, which included reimbursement of travel and substitute costs.

The Dallas High School Catering Club did a great job providing the food service for the conference. Organizers received a lot of positive feedback regarding the quality (and quantity) of food available. The Dallas High School Environmental Club, led by Stephanie Preuitt, was an excellent host to the Summit, and we look forward to a return trip in the near future.

Also, a big thank-you to all the volunteers, presenters and committee members that made this year’s Summit a success! It is because these people are so willing to give of their time and energy that we can provide wonderful events like this to our members across the state.

Anyone wishing to assist with the planning of the next Oregon Green Schools Association Summit is asked to contact Dave Larmouth, the OGSA Summit Chair at 503-474-4847. We are also looking for a school to host next year’s Summit.